DHUnplugged #317: China – DENIED

China markets were once again denied the coveted inclusion by MSCI in a further setback to the markets.

Brexit worries are preventing new market highs as trades are unwound ahead of the June 23rd vote and hopes are alive that the Fed will say something, anything that will reignite a flame for bulls to keep buying…

Markets in a bit of a tailspin after the latest Brexit poll. With the Fed meeting this week – is this just a way of pressing on the Fed to not do anything?

Retail sales for May came in slightly better than expected, but still nothing to get too excited about.
– U.S. luxury fashion retailer Neiman Marcus Group Ltd LLC reported its third straight quarterly drop in sales at established stores and a nearly 81 percent fall in profit amid a slowdown in apparel spending.
– What is going on with higher end retail ???

The VIX – skyrocketing – 50%+ over past few days to a high of over 21 today. Was under 13 last week. The last time we saw this lvel was back in February as markets were being sold off in a hard correction. Moves like this often signal bottoming potential as many are seeking to buy protection at any price.

Microsoft (MSFT) buying LinkedIn (LNKD) for 50% premium – about $25 billion. Any other targets?
– LinkedIn down 13% YTD even after the $196 price paid…
– Twitter shares surge on the report as hope is alive that they will become a target for acquisition

Brexit – the polls now show a lead to the LEAVE side of things – markets are moving along with every headline. Some listener emails about what will benefit and what will see more problems.

Mac OS will feature universal clipboards for copying and pasting across devices.

Mac OS will allow desktop saved files available for download from iPhone and iPad.

Mac OS will feature Apple Pay for the web.

Mac OS will feature SIRI for Mac

TV

Apple TV now has 1300 video channels.

Will feature ability to watch 4 sports games at one time through Fox Sports Go (FOXA).

Apple TV will feature Sling TV with many cable channels. (DISH, NFLX)

Apple TV introduces TV remote applications where you can change channels from iOS device without reaching for Apple TV remote.

Apple TV will feature ‘Dark Mode’

Apple TV OS will available this Fall.

Watch

New WatchOS accelerates application launch time.

New WatchOS will feature a ‘dock’ feature for recently used apps on the Watch.

Will have feature to reply to messages without tapping reply.

New WatchOS will allow users to write on the screen.

After a seemingly interminable wait, the yield on Germany’s 10-year sovereign debt has dropped below zero for the first time. The shift into negative territory is part of a continuing trend across global markets that has seen record low yields and surging volatility in developed market sovereign debt.

Investors will be watching China as MSCI Inc. is set to announce early Wednesday local time whether they are going to include mainland shares in their global benchmark indices. NO! Declined for the second time around. MSCI said China had made “significant steps” towards bringing the market “closer to international standards”.
– However, the US financial data firm said its “extensive global consultation” showed that Beijing had not addressed all its concerns over barriers to foreign investors.
– MSCI added that it would retain the option to include the A-shares as part of its next market classification review in 2017.

More tech nonsense – Twitter invests $70 million into Soundcloud.

“Use your bitcoins to to get gift-cards for stores in North America, Europe or Asia at YesToBitcoins.com . We have been accepting bitcoins as payment, for gift-cards since 2014.
Go to YestoBitcoins.com

The top holdings of Global X Millennials Thematic ETF (MILN) include stocks many investors would expect, such as Facebook, LinkedIn and Amazon, which take advantage of the tech tendencies of millennials. But some names might be more surprising like real estate investment trusts AvalonBay Communities and Equity Residential, and Home Depot, which could benefit from millennials moving out of the home of their parents.

We are creating the DH Old Codger Index Portfolio to compete against this new ETF to see how “old school” stocks do in comparison. Companies in our index will include:

Dead or not? The two largest daily fantasy sports companies, FanDuel Inc and DraftKings Inc, are in early-stage talks to merge, people familiar with the matter said on Monday, as the industry faces a crackdown by U.S. states over whether it runs illegal gambling.

OOPS! A Goldman Sachs executive footed the bill for prostitutes and the bank paid for a lavish trip to Dubai for the brother of a decision-maker at Libya’s sovereign wealth fund, a lawyer for the fund alleged on Monday, in a case it has brought against Goldman in London’s High Court.

In the wake of the Orlando massacre at popular nightclub Pulse, where 49 people were pronounced dead, a local Chick-Fil-A opened up on a Sunday to cook up hundreds of their famous chicken sandwiches and batches of their sweet tea.

Back to nuclear? The Tennessee Valley Authority’s (TVA) Watts Bar Unit 2 was connected to the power grid on June 3, becoming the first nuclear power plant to come online since 1996, when Watts Bar Unit 1 started operations. Watts Bar Unit 2 is undergoing final testing, producing electricity at incremental levels of power, as TVA prepares to start commercial operation later this summer. The new reactor is designed to add 1,150 megawatts (MW) of electricity generating capacity to southeastern Tennessee.

More than 45,000+ people are currently on the wait list to eat a meal, naked,at London’s much-anticipated The Bunyadi (aka the “naked restaurant”), which officially opens this month.
– Once diners get inside, remove their clothes and relinquish their smartphones, they will chose between two menus: naked non-vegan and naked vegan. The former features goji berry steak tartare with stinging nettle oil and cured salmon with seaweed salad. The latter features a sweet and salty “forage plate” and an asparagus dish with salted almonds, pickled red onion and melon. Both go for £69, which also gets you a robe and slippers. Wine (which you will probably need a lot of) is extra.

So what do we think of Soros and Ichan now? Are they right to be so pessimistic?

Appears that Russian hackers hacked the DNC site/info bank and stole info on Trump. How will that be used?